Captain, Commander, Wait, What
by AFSDallasCali93
Summary: A crew member's slip-of-the-tongue leads to hilarity on the Bridge. Takes place sometime in early Season 3. From my AO3 account.


It was another ordinary day on the Bridge. En route to an uncharted planet that was rich in dilithium and other necessary supplies, Voyager crossed through the empty space at Warp 2. The engineering team had sent a notification about the latest status of the warp drive and ship's engines, which was received through the Bridge's engineering console by Crewman Anthony Hendricks.

"Captain," Crewman Hendricks called out from the console, "I know you and Commander Janeway asked for the—!"

"Commander Janeway?!" Captain Janeway blurted out as she whipped her head around to face the former Maquis, "Excuse me!"

Hendricks gasped in horror. "I mean, Commander Chakotay! Captain Janeway, I—buh—jhe—ah! Pffth!" With his face reddening, he lowered his head towards the controls in front of him. He had no words to express how embarrassed he was at his blunder. This was his first duty shift on the Bridge, and he was sure he would never be allowed to come back, nor would he ever make ensign after this.

Chakotay didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for him and the Captain. Lieutenant Paris failed to stifle his giggles. Janeway shot him a brief glare to silence him before she stood, walked towards Hendricks, and tapped his shoulder to get him to look at her. He expected to see her death glare, and was surprised when he didn't get one. In fact, she looked incredulously amused.

"Last time I checked, I was in command of this ship," she chastised with a silly grin, "And I don't remember you having the authority to demote me to commander."

"Captain, I'm so sorry," Hendricks muttered nervously, "I did not intend to demean your authority. Actually, I don't know how I even mixed up your rank with the commander's." He breathed a heavy sigh as he stood to attention, "I have no excuse for that, and I'm prepared to accept the consequences."

She shook her head and smiled reassuringly. "No harm done, Crewman." Making sure Lieutenant Ayala couldn't hear from the security station, she leaned in and added in a low voice, "If it makes you feel any better, I once called Admiral Nechayev 'Mom' because she just so happened to look a bit like my mother," she trailed off her last sentence with a laugh.

Hendricks relaxed and laughed along with her. "Yeah, that would have been really embarrassing. Thank you, Captain. I'll make sure that won't happen again."

"Okay," she replied before changing the subject. "Did you get the latest notification from Engineering?"

"Yes, Captain," he answered, "I just sent it to your console." He then glanced over her shoulder. "Uh, Captain?"

"Yes?"

Hendricks pointed behind her. Janeway turned to find Chakotay in her chair, reclining with his legs stretched forward and his hands behind his head.

"What the—?!" Janeway burst out laughing as she ran back to the middle of the Bridge. "Commander, what are you doing sitting in my chair?"

Chakotay grinned smugly, showing off his dimples. "Sitting in my chair as the captain of this ship, Commander."

"You wish! I don't see the proof on your collar, mister," she retorted before pointing at the rank pips on her own turtleneck. "See these pips? One, two, three, and four. That means I'm the captain. Now get off!" Gripping his shoulders, she playfully shoved a laughing Chakotay out of her chair before quickly sitting down.

"No, you know I'm happy to serve you as your first officer," he assured as he sat down in his own chair, "I made a conscious choice to accept your offer when we began this journey two years ago, and I don't regret it. Besides, I need you to kick my ass every once in a while."

"I'm glad to hear that," Janeway replied, "By the way, I wasn't joking when I said I called Admiral Nechayev 'Mom' once. She didn't appreciate that very much and my sister teased me about it for years. As much as I miss her, thank goodness she's not here, or she'd be embarrassing me at every opportunity."

"True," Chakotay nodded, "But then there's me and my twisted sense of humor." A playful glimmer shone in his eyes, earning a light slap on the arm from the woman next to him.

"Yeah, soon you'll be even worse than she ever was. Then I'd really have to kick your ass," Janeway shot back.

Chakotay simply shrugged, "Worth it every time." Janeway just rolled her eyes.

After reading the status update from Engineering, she turned to the helm. "Mr. Paris, slow to two-third impulse and maintain course for the planet."

"Yes, Mom." Upon realizing what he had just said, Paris' face turned stark white. "Wait, no! I meant—!"

The entire Bridge crew erupted in hysterical laughter.

"Oh, now you've done it, Tom!" Ensign Kim called out from ops.

"See? I told you it was going to happen eventually!" Chakotay quipped to Janeway.

"And after what you just told me," Hendricks added.

"Keep up and you're going to bed early without dinner tonight, son," Janeway teased. The crew laughed even harder.

Even mortified as he was, Paris couldn't help but laugh as well. "Yes, Ma'am." He was definitely in a crunch, so the title was appropriate.

With the captain's command keyed into the helm controls, the ship slowed to two-third impulse as it continued on its way.


End file.
